Venetian blind



Feb. 23, 1932. LE ROY J. STEFFEN 1,346,223.

VENETIAN BLIND Filed July 9, 1931' lizu/zntor' .Ze gyf5zfeffie7z/ Patented Feb. 23, 1932 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE LEROY J. STEFIEN,'OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOIR TO ROUGH SHADE CORPORA- TION, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT VENE'I'IAN BLIND Application filed. July 9,

ing the ends of the slats during the raisingand lowering operation.

Another object of the invention 1s the provision of new and improved Venetian blind assemblies having novel means for holding the blind in a vertical plane when in operative position.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved guide 7 mechanism for the ends of the slats that will permit one end thereof to move along the guide in advance of the other without binding, and that will permit the proper angular movement of the slat in all positions of the blind.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a new and improved Venetian blind assembly that is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, readily assembled, that may be easily manipulated, and that is efficient in use.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a window showing my invention in position thereon;

1F ig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1;

' and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the construction shown in Flg. 2, showing the parts in disassembled relation.

Referring now to the drawings, the refer upper swing board 14.- which is journaled in brackets 15 and 16 rigidly mounted on the lintle 17 of the frame 12. The lower swing board is shown at 18 and the two are connected together by the tapes 19 and 21 as is usual in such constructions.

1931. Serial No. 549,713.

Supported by the tapes 19 and 21 are the slats 22 as is usual in such constructions. A

cord 23 is provided for tilting the upperswing board 14 in the usual manner. A cord 24 having its ends extending over the pulleys 25, 26 and 27 and thence downwardly through the slats 22 and attached at their lower ends to the lower swin board .18 is provided for raising and lowerlng the blind.

Since the details of the Venetian blind thus far described constitute no part of the present invention it is not thought necessary v to further illustrate or describe the same.

In the use of Venetian blinds on porches, open windows and the like, it is desirable that means he provided for holding the blinds in substantially vertical position against the action of winds, storms and the like. In the present. invention this is accomplished by providing guides at the ends of the slats which will prevent the slats from moving inwardly or outwardly relative to the frames on which the Venetian blind is mounted. It is common practice to provide guides for the slats of Venetian blinds, but in most of these arrangements the slats will become jammed or stick it, during the raising or lowering operation, one end moves in advance of the other.

The present invention seeks to'eliminate this diiiiculty by the provision of a guide the slats. In the form of construction select ed to illustrate one embodiment of the invention, guides or guide rails 28, and 29 are attached to the inner sides of the stiles 31 and 32 of the frame l2. As shown on the drawings these guides extend, vertically in parallel relation.

These guide members are slidably engaged with interlocking shoe or sleeve members 33. This interlocklng connection may be accomplished in a variety of ways. As shown the guide members are provided on their outer portions with heads 30 which are adapted to e engaged by the shoe members 33. The head 30 may be formed by providing a groove or indentation at each side of the guide members. The shoe members are shown as being C-shape in cross section for slidably engaging these guides.

n order that the shoes or sleeves may slide freely along the guides 28 and 29 these sleeves are elongated as clearly shown in Fig. 3. A plurality of these shoes may be employed at each side of the blind, and preferably though not necessarily only certain of the slats are provided with these shoes.

A loose motion connection is provided between the ends of the slats and the shoes which will permit angular adjustment of the slats and also permit one end of the slat to move in advance of the other. Any suitable means may be employed for this purpose.

' As shown the slats are provided with clips 34 having laterally extending projections 35, the ends of which are bent to form hooks or eyes 36. The shoes or'sleeves 33 are provided with eyes for engaging the eyes or hooks 36. As shown, the guide shoes 33 are stamped from sheet metal and have their central portions slitted and bent outwardly to form eyes or loops 37 through which the hooks 36 extend. The eyes or hooks 36 are enlarged so that considerable loose motion is provided which will not only permit the slat 22 to partially rotate, but will also permit the slat to move toward and from the shoe 33. The loose motion connection between the slat and shoeswill permit the slats to have a universal movement relative to the shoes.

The plane of the eye 36 is so arranged with reference to the plane of the slat 22 that the slats may be moved to a position overlapping each other or to positions in horizontal planes for opening and closing the blinds by pulling the cord 23 in the usual manner. In order not to interfere with the tilting of the slats 22 the clips 34 are so connected to the ends of the slats that the projections or shanks 35 will extend along the longitudinal axes of the slats. I

By elongating the shoes 33 their tilting will be prevented and there will consequently be a minimum amount of binding during their movement along the corresponding guides. By providing the loose motion or universal connection between the interlocking loops 37 and eyes 36 the blind may be raised and lowered without binding even though they be tilted, and if for any reason whatever the slats at one end of the blind be raised or lowered slightly in advance of th other.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, a pair of guides extending upwardly in parallel relation, elonated shoes slidably engaging said guides, a Venetian blind having a plurality of slats, and a universal connection between the ends 2. In combination, a Venetian blind hav..- ing a plurality of slats, means for holding said slats in vertical alinement, said means comprisin a pair of guides having heads thereon, -shape shoes slidably engaging said heads, an enlarged loop on each shoe,*a projection on each end of certain of said slats, said projections terminating in Ioops loosely engaging the loops on said shoes, and means for raising and lowering said slats.

3. A Venetian blind assembly comprising a pair of guides, grooves therein, shoes having C-shape openings therethrough for en gagmg said grooves, a Venetian blind havin a plurality of slats mounted between sai guides, and a universal connection between certain of said slats and said shoes whereby said slats may be rotated and also moved in a vertical plane relative to saidshoes.

4. A Venetian blind assembly comprising a pair of spaced parallel guides, a Venetian blind having a plurality ofslats, mounted. between said guides, shoes on certain of said slats, for-engaging said guides, and inter locking connections between said slat-s and shoes, said connections comprising interengaging e es. 7

5. A enetian blind assembly comprising a plurality-of .guides'spaced apart, a Venetian' blind having a plurality of slats, between said guides, means carried by certain of said slats for engaging said guides, and eye connections between certain of said slats and said means.

6. Ina Venetian blind, a guide sleeve adapted to engage a guide, said sleeve having an eye'thereon, a clip for engaging a slat of a Venetian blind, and interengagmg I eyes on said clip andsleeve, said eyes constituting a loose motion connection whereby said clip may be turned through an angle of at least In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

LEROY J. STEFEEN.

of said slats and said shoes whereby saidslats may be rotated through an angle of approximately 90 and may also be moved in a vertical plane relative to said shoes. 

